Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1887-07-16
Muller gave the r.ou,rea tn,orm,.

S~ SNy wv uPUCN ny Gu6
slow scnN,tching Of a quill across the dirtv
paper, during which Hans nearly went to
sleep; for Vtthe weather was very hot. and ha
was tired with his ride.
@There!" Atatd the writer, presently, gazing
at his handwriting with an almost childish air
Of satisfaction, "that is done. A curse on the
man who invented writingl Our fathers did
very well without it; why should not we,
Though, to be sure, 1t is useful for treaties
with the Kafarx. I don't believe YOU have
told me right now; about that ~'e1ceNencv.,
nephew. Well, 1t Nvill have to serve. When
a man writes such . letter as that to the rep
resentative Of the Nuglish queen he needn't
mind his spelling; it will be swallowed with
the rest" and he leansAl! back in his chair and
laughed softly.
"Wel, Meinheer Coeta ee, what is it? All.
l know; the prisoners. Well, what did you
DOR
Hans told his story, and was rambling on
when the general cut him Sd ort.
$50 cousin, SO! You talk nike an OK wagon
rumble and creak and jollS, a devil Of a
noise and turning Of wheels, but very little
progress. They will give up tbs twelve men
for our four, will they! Well, N1at is about
a fair proportion. No, it is not, Though; four
Beers are better than twelve Englishmen any
day-ay, better than fortyl" and hs. laughed
again. ''Well, the men shall be SAINT in as
you arranged; they will help to eat up their
last biscuits. Good day, cousin. Stop,
though; one word before you 60. I have
heard about you at times, cousin. hive
heard it said that you cannot be trustal.
Now, I don't know if that is so. 1 DOM:
believe it myself. Only, listen; if it should
be SO, and l should find you out, by Godl
l will a you cut into rimpis with
afterox s~jambocks, and then shoot you and
send in your carcass as a present to the Eng
lish," and as he said it he leaned forward and
brought down his fist upon the deal table
with a bang that produced . most unpleasant
effect upon poor Hans nerves, and a cold
CLEAN of sudden fsrocity hickeled in tho
small eyes, very discomforting for a timid
man to behold, however innocent he knew
himself to be.
81 swear he began to babble.
"Swear not at all, cousin; you are az elder
Of the church. There is no need to, besides, I
told you l did not believe it Of you; only I
have had one or two cases of this sort OF thing
lately. No, never mind who they were. You
will not meet them about again. Good day,
cousin, good day. Forget not to thank the
Almighty God for our glorious victories. He
will expect it from an elder Of the church."
Poor Hans departed crestfallen, feeling
that the Gays of him who tries. however skill
fully and fmpartially, to sit upon two stools
at once are not happy days, and sometimes
threaten to be short ones. And ~supposinr
that the Englishmen should win after alias
in his heart he hoped they might-how should
he then prove that he had Aloped it! The
general watched him waddle through the
door from under his pent brows, a half
humorous, half menacing expression on his
face.
"a windbag; a coward; a man without a
heart for good or for evil. Bah! nephew, that
Is Hans Coetzee. l havc known him for years.
Well, let him 60. He would sell us if lie
could, but l have frightened him now, and,
what is more, if l SEQ reason, he shall find /
never bark unless I mean to bite. Well,
enough of him. Let me SEA, have I thanked
you yet for your share in Majuba: Ali that
was a glorious victoryl How many were
there Of you when you started up the noun
tain}"
Eighty men,"
And how many at the end"
Gone hundred and seventy-perhaps a fey
more"
And how many of you were hit.'
"Three-one killed. two wounded, and a
few scratched.n
"Wonderful, wonderful! It was q brave
decd, and because it was so bravo it was sue
cessful. He must have been mad, that Eng
lish general. Who shot him"
"~Breytenbach. Colley held up a white
handkerchief i'll his hand, and Breytenbach
fired, and down went the general all of IL
heap, and then they all ran heller SHELTER down
the hill. Yes, it was q wonderful thingl
They could have beat us back with their left
hand. That is what comes of having a right
eous cause, uncle"
The general smiled grimly. THAT is what
comes of having men who can shoot, and who
understand tho country, and are not afraid.
Well, it is done, n well done. Tho stars in
their courses have fought for us, Frank Null
Ter, and so far we have conquered. But how
is it to end2 You are no fool: tell me, how
will it ends"
Frank Muller rose and walked twice up and
down the room before he answered. "Shall I
tell youl' he asked, and then, without wait
ing for an answer, went on: at will end in
our getting the country back. That is what
this armistice means. There are thousands
of rooibaatjes there at tho Mex; they cannot
therefore be waiting for soldiers. They are
waiting for all opportunity to yield, uncle.
We shall get the country back, and you will
be president of the republic"
The old man took a pull at his pipe. "You
have a long head, Frank, and it has not run
away with you. The English government is
going to give in. The stars in their courses
continue to fight for us. The English gov
eminent is as mad as its officers. They will
give in. But it means more than that, Frank;
I will tell you what it means. 1t means
and again he let his heavy hand fall upon the
deal table-"the triumph of the Boer through
out South Africa. Bah! Burgers was not
such a fool after all when he talked of his
great Dutch republic. l have been twice to
England now, and l know tho Englishman.
l could measure him for his veldtschoens
Shoes. He knows nothing-nothing. He
understands his shop, he is buried in his shop,
goes away and starts his shop in other places,
n buries himself in it, and makes it a big
shop, because he understands shops. But it is
all a question of shops, and if the shops
abroad interfere with the shops at home, or if
it is thought that they do, which comes to tho
same thing, then the shops at home put an
end to the shops abroad. Bah! they talk q
great deal there in England, but. at the bot
tom of it, it is shop, shop, shop. They talk of
honor, and patriotism too, but they both give
way to the shop. And I tell you this, Frank
Muller: it is tho shop that has made the Eng
lsh, and it is the shop that will destroy them.
Well, so be 1t. We shall have our slice;
Africa for the Africanders. The Transvaal
for the Transvaalers first, then the rest.
Shepstone was a clever man; he would have
made it all into an English shop, with the
black men for shop boys. We have changed
all that. but we ought to be grateful to Shep-
stone. The English have paid our debts, they
have eaten up the Zulus, who would other
wise have destroyed US, and they have let us